Altaf Bukhari condemns civilian killings in Pulwama, demands time bound probe, punishment to the culprits

Srinagar: Senior PDP leader and former finance minister Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari on Saturday strongly condemned the killing of civilians at Sirnoo village in Pulwama district.
In a statement issued here, Bukhari termed the incident horrendous and heart wrenching that demands immediate fact finding and a follow-up action as warranted under law.
He said that violence begets violence and any such outrageous incident not only adds to the alienation among people but also results in colossal damages to the efforts of restoring peace and stability in the conflict ridden region.
The former finance minister urged the governor led administration to order a time bound probe into the incident and a stern action against the culprits.
He said while violence has engulfed the valley, it is unfortunate that the response of the government of India has not been encouraging sofar. “The use of disproportionate force in the militancy hit areas especially against the non combatants has only compounded the vicious cycle of violence,” he remarked.
Bukhari said the unarmed innocent civilians killed in Pulwama has deeply shaken the whole Kashmir valley and the question of the people is justifiable that whether this tragedy could have been averted.
“Since the security forces have reportedly not abided by the Standard Operating Procedure in this case, there is genuine demand that a credible inquiry should be held to fix the responsibility so that such tragedies could be avoided in future,” he demanded.
The PDP leader prayed for the peace to the departed souls and speedy recovery of the people who have sustained injuries during the incident.